Jaffrey

Monadnock Park manager moving on

After five years as the park manager at Monadnock State Park, Patrick Hummel begins a new job this week.

Hummel has been named the coordinator of volunteer services for the N.H. Dept. of Parks and Recreation. He will be working from the department’s Concord offices.

The volunteer coordinator job has been vacant for a couple of years, according to Amy Bassett, a spokesperson for the Department of Parks and Recreation. She said Hummel will be involved in recruiting and training volunteers and in formalizing some of the existing volunteer programs, especially in the area of trail maintenance.

The park manager job at Monadnock State Park will be posted internally, according to Grant Klene of the parks department, followed by a more extensive search if necessary.

“We’ll try to fill the job as quickly as possible,” Klene said.

Prior to becoming park manager at Monadnock State Park, Hummel was the park’s assistant manager for one year and had worked seasonally there for four years. In a blog posted Thursday on the department’s website, Hummel shared his thoughts as he hiked to the summit of Monadnock during his final week as park manager:

“Sharing the wonder and beauty of this sacred peak and its deep history has been the most fulfilling and enjoyable aspect of my duties as park manager,” he wrote. “I am excited and eager to get started in my new position with the state; volunteer service and community outreach are such integral and vital aspects to managing natural resources and the opportunity my new role provides, along with the impending move north, strike a rich chord in me. ... Mount Monadnock, unselfishly and without asking anything in return, has served as my playground, my classroom, my therapist, my gym, my teacher, my home and my friend.”

Dave Anderson can be reached at 924-7172, ext. 233 or danderson@ledgertranscript.com. He’s on Twitter at @DaveAndersonMLT.